To Catch A Murderer
by Fews-Saunders XD
Summary: It's been three years since the gang met Duddits, and the gang decides to hold a party for him at Hole In The Wall. However, when a store clerk is killed and the murder is on the run, will their pleasant weekend turn into a fight for their lives? Beaver/OC Rated M: Language, Sexual situations, horror.
1. Chapter 1

**A.N.: I do not own DREAMCATCHER ect ect.. **

_Chapter 1_

"Some people are like slinki's, not really good for anything but they put a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs. Sometimes, these people seem to be your 'soul mate'."

"Silly love poems," I sighed and rolled my eyes as I placed the library book back on the shelf and continued my impatient pace through the aisle. The fact that I was even meeting my best friends in the library was ridiculous in the first place, but it was Henry's idea since no teacher would even think to look for them in the library. I heard footsteps approaching, and I quickly picked up another random book, opened to a random page then practically shoved my nose into the spine in an attempt to feign deep and obsessive interest in whatever the subject was. My heart skipped a couple of beats as the footsteps drew closer and seemed to stop. Tentatively, I glanced from the corner of my eye to see who was standing over me.

"I didn't realize Shakespeare was your thing?" A dark haired young man with thick rimmed glasses grinned at me. Joe "Beaver" Clarenton rested his arm on the shelf, leaning forward just enough for me to catch a whiff of his drugstore cologne.

Closing the book and placing it on the shelf, I rolled my eyes. "Far from it, I'm shocked you can even pronounce his name."

Beaver grabbed his chest, "Ouch. I'll have you know I stayed awake all through the 'Romeo and Juliet' unit of literature class."

I scoffed. "Only because you were hoping they would do it."

"We could do it." Beaver smirked as my green eyes grew wide. I had known Beaver for years. We grew up in the same trailer park. And even took baths together occasionally. The thought of "doing it" with the Beaver made my stomach more nauseous than fluttery. The complete opposite reaction of what I was expecting from my first time.

"Beaver don't be a sicko." A voice came from behind him. Two more boys were approaching with smirks plastered on their faces. The taller of the two had dirty blonde curly hair and a thin face, Henry Devlin.

Gary Jones, "Jonesy" to anyone who didn't want a punch in the kisser, was shorter with blazing red hair and freckles. "Yeah Beav, and I'm sure the last thing the librarian wants is to clean up our puke."

Beaver wrapped his arm around Jonesy's neck and gave the top of his head a vigorous rub. Jonesy tried to pull away, but somehow Beaver was stronger. Come to think of it, when did the Beaver get to be slightly taller than Jonesy? It seemed like only yesterday, Beaver was just the small fry of the pack with a high squeaky voice and glasses that seemed too big for his face. Henry too, seemed more grown up as he crossed his arms and shook his head at the boys' antics in the small aisle between rows of books. His shoulders were more broad and his jawline was more prominent. All at once I suddenly understood why the girls in our high school wanted to date him. But I knew Henry had bigger plans and he wouldn't let dating get in the way of his goal of a post-high school education.

I must have pulled a face as I admired my best friends because Henry turned to me and asked, "You alright there, Natalie?"

I nodded. "I'm fine. Shall we get this secret meeting started before we get busted?"

Beaver released Jonsey. "What about Pete?"

"Forget Pete," Jonsey straightened up and attempted to fix his fly away hair. "Let's just get the plan figured out."

"Right." We quickly huddled in the middle of the library aisle and I cleared my throat. "Do you boys know what this Friday is?"

I was met with blank stares. I sighed and clicked my tongue impatiently. "This Friday marks three years since we met Duddits."

Douglas Cavell, or simply "Duddits" was the sixth member of our group. He was the same age as us physically, but mentally he was much younger, and because of that he attended the academy for special children. Although it was a few blocks away from our own school, we hadn't crossed paths with him until we saved him from some high school bullies.

"Ooohhhh," simultaneously the boys nodded.

"I was thinking maybe we all could surprise him with a party?" I smiled and clapped my hands together.

"What if we did it at Hole In The Wall?" Jonsey suggested. "Duddits hasn't been up with us yet, and I'm sure his mother will let him come up for a night."

We agreed then set the plan for Jonsey and Henry to meet with Mrs. Cavell while Beaver, Pete and I went to purchase party supplies. Even if Mrs. Cavell wouldn't allow Duddits into the woods, we could at least use the party supplies in one of our backyards. Satisfied with our little scheme, we broke the huddle just as Pete rounded the corner and nearly collided into Beaver.

"It's about time you showed up, Pete." Beaver adjusted his glasses and brushed the front of his black t-shirt. "We are already finished with the secret meeting."

Hands on his knees, Pete was panting unable to speak. Sweat dripped from his broad forehead and gathered under his arms staining his white gym t-shirt. His brown eyes were wide with terror. Instantly we all sensed something was amiss.

"Pete? Pete what's wrong?" Jonsey urged him to speak but he was still out of breath. A split second later we saw it.

I gasped and fell back as images flashed in my mind's eye like a old movie reel. Pete's view of the track lanes as he quickly passed his fellow track team members bounced up and down to his steady jog. The film seemed to cut and suddenly I was looking through Pete's eyes at the fence that ran along the edge of the school grounds, just across the street was a 7-11 where a pickup truck was parked up on the curb close to the front door.

Pete's voice echoed in my mind in time to my own thoughts, How unusual.

**Blam Blam Blam!**

With my normal sight, I saw Henry jump back and stumble into a shelf of books, Jonesy gasped, and Beaver covered his ears in a vain attempt to drown out the gunshots that echoed through the memory. In my minds eye, Pete had also fallen to the ground. The film cut to the rest of the track team who were in complete chaos. Some boys had fallen to the ground, others coming up behind them tripped over their teammates and fell face first into the track. Another explosion sent my heart racing into overtime and my mind's eye caught a glimpse of the pickup truck driving away as flames and thick black smoke exploded from the gas station's main building. Students were shouting and pointing at the smoke while the coach was attempting to get everyone's attention by blowing his whistle.

I blinked and the film was finished. The boys were still gaping into the air as they slowly came to their senses. Although we all shared the telepathic ability and exercised it fairly often, the intensity of Pete's recent memory left us almost as breathless as he was in the moments before.

"Fuck me Freddy," Beaver whispered as we all stared wide-eyed at each other.

I was the first to find my footing and I dashed through the empty aisles to the nearest eastern-facing window. I could see the track team at the edge of the fence shouting and making a commotion as two fire trucks and at least three cop cars surrounded the building. Police officers were shouting at the students and waving their arms to tell them to get farther back out of danger. Other officers were directing traffic as an ambulance pulled up.

"Oh man," I whispered. I blinked and all at once the figures of the various officers and firefighters were surrounded by halos of bright yellow colors that swirled with pinks and reds.

"Let me see," Beaver put his hands on my shoulders as he pressed his nose to the window pane. "Criminy!"

Henry, Jonsey, and Pete joined us at the window. We watched together as a fireman (his halo of color was the brightest yellow, almost white) went into the burning building, while five others were trying their best to douse the flames. A few moments later, he emerged from the smoke with the store clerk in his arms. Although I could still see the bright white glow of the fireman, the clerks was a sickly green color that faded to white and flashed brightly for just a second before disappearing completely. When they were a safe distance from the building the EMTs rushed over with a gurney and the fireman placed the unmoving clerk onto it. I didn't know if the EMTs knew it, but I knew the clerk had died just moments before.

A sob escaped my mouth, and tears formed quickly spilling down my cheeks. Turning away from the window I ended up in Beaver's arms sobbing quietly while they watched the ambulance pull away with lights and sirens blazing.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The walk from our school to the Special Children's Academy was a quiet one. We were all too absorbed in our thoughts about the incident to make conversation. When Henry suggested that we go pick up Duddits from school and walk him home, the rest of us just grunted in response.

I couldn't shake the moment of the clerks death from my mind. The brilliant flash of the clerk's aura would stain the back of my eyelids for many nights. I had never actually seen anyone pass away before. It made me sick and afraid. I wanted to run home, throw myself onto my bed and bury myself in the warm comforter, however being with my friends was comforting enough for now.

As we rounded the corner to the academy, the students and various adults were already crowding the lawn and sidewalks, however we had no trouble locating Duddits who was waiting with a huge grin on his face by the flag pole. He waved enthusiastically, and when he rushed over to give each of us a hug the mood of our group shifted instantly.

"You always know just what to do to make us feel better, don't you Duddits?" Jonsey patted his shoulder and grinned.

Duddits threw his hands straight up into the air over his head, Scooby-Doo lunchbox in one hand, Scooby-Doo stuffed dog in the other, and with a smile he shouted, "I Duddits!"

The rest of us mimicked his Superman pose and cried out, "I Duddits!" To anyone looking at us that day, we may have seemed a bit odd, however the phrase "I Duddits" was something of a Mantra. That day it gave us hope, happiness, and comfort. The rest of our walk home we enjoyed, the thoughts of the gas station and dying clerk were far away as if Duddits could repel the negative thoughts. When we dropped him off at home and said our goodbyes, he turned to go up the steps to his home. Stopped, then turned around and smiled one more time before opening the door and disappearing inside.

"Do you think Duddits knows what happened earlier?" Henry asked.

"No doubt in my mind," Pete responded. "Diddits is special. And he knows it."

Jonesy, Pete, and Henry walked a few paces ahead. Beaver fell into step beside me as I glanced at the ground ahead of me. "Penny for your thoughts?"

I thought for a moment. How could I explain what I saw? Maybe it wasn't the sudden appearance of the auras that terrified me, it was still the image of the dying clerk? Mortality was so short. So fragile. "He didn't make it you know."

Beaver's expression was puzzled.

"The 7-11 clerk. He died just as the fireman pulled him from the fire. Had the firefighter been ten seconds sooner maybe he would have lived." Tears formed in my eyes and I quickly wiped them away, "What sort of monster kills innocent people like that?"

Beaver had no reply.

"Anyway I'm going home. See you guys tomorrow. Stay safe all of you." I wiped another stray tear as I crossed the street. My shadow was long against the sidewalk in front of me as I opened the wooden gate. The lawn was overgrown and yellowish green from the lack of rain the past few weeks in Derry. But we weren't fretting about it, snow would be coming sooner than anyone anticipated. As I skipped up the stairs to my porch, I felt a tingling sensation on the back of my neck. My heart palpitated as I stopped in my tracks when an image of a man lurking nearby flashed in my mind. My legs tickled as a slight breeze snaked its way around me, and my breath was labored as my erratic heartbeat pulsed in my ears drowning out any noise that could have been coming from nearby. Again, the image of the clerk's untimely death flashed before my eyes. Death was imminent. No one can stop it. Slowly I glanced over my shoulder, praying I wouldn't see anyone or anything. The dark figure in my mind circled around me as a fierce wind threatened to send me falling backwards off the porch.

"What the hell?" Dirt and debris swirled around me, hitting my bare arms and legs drawing blood when they nicked my skin. I shut my eyes and screamed, "Stop! Stop this now!"

The figure in my mind laughed menacingly as its head and shoulders were enveloped in an aura of crimson colors with random brown splotches. Suddenly he lifted his hands that appeared more like wickedly sharp daggers and lunged forward. I felt the static shock as the fingers went right through my torso that ended in a throb of pain in my back and head as my body was pitched backwards off the porch and onto the cement pathway.


End file.
